An investigation of the factors that influence academic performance of students registered for Financial Management at Durban University of Technology (DUT)

Abstract

The Durban University of Technology (DUT), whose vision is to be a centre of excellence in the heart of Africa, is keen on quality assurance and the maintenance of standards. However, the academic deans and quality assurance committee have noted that while some students perform highly, others do not perform well, raising concerns about those who do not perform well. This is particularly applicable in Financial Management Modules because should this poor performance go unchecked, the university may lose its reputation, which may result in a loss of confidence in DUT graduates amongst outside organisations. The study aimed at investigating the challenges encountered by students enrolled for Financial Management (FM) in order to establish strategies that can be adopted to improve performance. The research tool used was a questionnaire, which was then examined by quantitative methods. The sample consisted of 160 students enrolled in Financial Management courses. In order to preserve anonymity, their actual marks could not be used in the study, hence they were asked to gauge their own performance both in their Matriculation and in DUT examinations. This was then processed using the category data of their bio-characteristics (gender, age, type of school, mode of study) measured against their opinions of different modes of study used in FM courses at DUT. Some of the most important findings from the study results were that parental involvement with schoolwork resulted in a better Matric result, and that more of the third-year DUT students claimed this than the 4th years, indicating that parents are increasingly getting involved. At DUT, proportionately more 4 th years claimed lecturers as being most helpful, whereas for 3rd years, it was student-run groups. A notable 62.2 % of all respondents claimed that teaching methods in Financial Management should be revised. There was also a worrying number of nonresponses of up to 10%, for some of the teaching and learning methods, indicating that some registered students are not able to make full use of what is on offer. Lastly, another finding worth mentioning is the relationship between understanding terminology by respondents and the type of school they attended. Results showed that most of the respondents from rural and township schools had difficulty understanding terminology as compared to those from private schools.